Nigel Farage has unveiled two senior Labour figures from London’s political scene as the latest defectors to Reform, as he makes a push for votes in the capital ahead of local elections.
Mr Farage welcomed Sir Robin Wales, the controversial former Labour mayor of Newham, who was deselected in 2018, and the former council leader in Newham, Clive Furness, to Reform UK at a press conference in London.
Mr Farage admitted that his party’s “weakness” is a lack of “experience on the front line”.
Until now, the most prominent defectors have been right-wing Tories such as Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman and Nadine Dorries.
Sir Robin said he was switching parties because Labour “has lost its moral compass” under Sir Keir Starmer.
He claimed that the two main parties, Labour and the Conservatives, “have failed”, and denied that Reform is “racist”.
Sir Robin has been appointed to be Reform’s London director of local government, while Mr Furness will serve as his senior adviser and stand as Reform UK’s candidate for mayor of Newham.
But Sir Robin, a 71-year-old veteran of London politics, comes with question marks hanging over him. He was deselected by the Newham Labour Party for the 2018 mayoral election in the borough after the party was forced to rerun the selection following a threat of legal action over alleged irregularities in his original reselection.
In 2011, Sir Robin came under severe criticism for a £111m project to relocate council offices to a single building in Newham, which included £18.7m of design and refurbishment costs.
He was also attacked for investing £40m of taxpayers’ money in the Olympic stadium after the 2012 London Olympics.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Sir Robin said: “After decades fighting for working people in Newham, I’ve seen Labour abandon its roots. Under Sadiq Khan and the Labour leadership across London, the capital has seen soaring crime, failing services, and a party that prioritises the wealthy elite over the working class it was built to represent.
“May will be a referendum on Sadiq Khan and the Labour Party. Only Reform stands for working people and is presenting a real, credible alternative plan to Labour in London.”
Mr Furness added: “Labour has clearly and demonstrably failed London. It’s sad to see that even Newham, a borough that Sir Robin and I managed to lift out of deprivation, has gone completely backwards under a Labour mayor and a Labour council that is now completely out of touch with the communities it was meant to represent.
“That’s why I am joining Reform UK. In May, the choice is clear: more of the same high-crime, high-tax regime with Labour, or real change with Reform.”
A London Labour spokesperson said: “If Clive Furness and Robin Wales count as a ‘major London announcement’, Reform really are scraping the barrel.
“Neither [of the] men have been part of the Labour movement for some time. In Newham, Robin Wales was removed by local members following concerns about his record in office.
“Nigel Farage, Laila Cunningham and their allies spend their time talking London down and attacking the success of one of the most proudly multicultural cities in the world.”
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